Operational management solution for media production and distribution

ABSTRACT

A method for managing tasks and user operations on media using a model of resources management dealing with the complexity of situation which occur in a production/distributions system is provided. The method is based on a workplace infrastructure, a task-oriented user interface and a work package management system. The method optimizes operations in media production/distribution environment through a workflow-based user interface that handles Work packages, Workplaces, Tasks, Assets and Contents.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) to U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/923,027, filed 12 Apr. 2007,the teachings of which are incorporated herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present principles relate to a technique for distributing Contentacross a network. More particularly, they relate to providing adistributive and collaborative environment for media production anddistribution systems.

BACKGROUND ART

In the media industry, solutions for addressing specific Assetmanagement needs are now converging in an effort to provide a globalsolution for media Asset management with different levels of workflowmanagement support. Examples of these solutions include:

1) Playout Automation

Present day playout automation techniques provide real time control ofdevices that playout video and audio Content according a schedule. Someplayout techniques address the need to organize movement of Content atthe receiving or ingest server and at the storage phases. The providersof playout devices have demonstrated an expertise in device interfaces,but are still evolving to support workflow engines. Currently, playoutautomation solutions propose static workflows that need significantrework at the configuration stage.

2) Document Asset Management:

Providers of document Asset management have served the print media andhave demonstrated strength in managing documents. Many such providershave evolved into the multimedia environment to tackle the mediaindustry. Typically, these providers lack expertise in real time deviceresource management and their automation solutions afford only limitedways to manage workflow.

3) Video Editing Systems

There exist several providers of video editing systems, at least one ofwhich has introduced a non linear workflow solution for the mediaindustry which only serves to manage workflow in a static way (i.e., notdynamic).

4) IT middleware Suppliers:

Providers of IT Middleware typically offer specialized business layerapplications and associated infrastructure to manage a transactionallayer to handle workflows. In practice, such suppliers focus on businesslayers so their solutions do not provide a user interface and cannotcontrol resources with load balancing or quality of servicesconstraints.

SUMMARY

Briefly, in accordance with a preferred implementation of the presentprinciples, there is provided a technique of managing tasks and useroperations on media using a model of resource management capable ofdealing with complex situations which often arise in a production and/ordistribution environment. The technique is based on a workplaceinfrastructure, and includes a task-oriented user interface and a WorkPackage management system. The method optimizes operations in a mediaproduction/distribution environment through a workflow-based userinterface handling: Work Packages, Workplaces, Tasks, Assets, andContent.

In accordance with one implementation, the method includes selecting aworkplace category, selecting a workplace within the selected workplacecategory, providing at least one task corresponding to the selectedworkplace, updating a target Asset in response to a user selected task,and launching a command related to the selected task.

The details of one or more implementations are set forth in theaccompanying drawings and the description below. Even if described inone particular manner, it should be clear that implementations may beconfigured or embodied in various manners. For example, animplementation may be performed as a method, or embodied as an apparatusconfigured to perform a set of operations or an apparatus storinginstructions for performing a set of operations. Other aspects andfeatures will become apparent from the following detailed descriptionconsidered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings wherein like reference numerals denote similar elementsthroughout the views:

FIG. 1 a depicts a block diagram of Assets and Content and correspondingmetadata for the same according to an implementation of the presentprinciples;

FIG. 1 b depicts block diagram of the Assets, Content and correspondingmetadata for the same according to an implementation of the presentprinciples;

FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of workplace and workplace categoriesaccording to an implementation of the present principles;

FIG. 3 depicts a block diagram of a workplace and correspondingviewpoints associated with a respective workplace, according to animplementation of the present principles;

FIG. 4 depicts a flow chart diagram of a process of the user and taskoriented steps according to an implementation of the present principles;

FIG. 5 depicts an operational workflow diagram of the ingest aspect ofthe system of the present principles;

FIG. 6 is an operational workflow diagram of the playout aspect of thesystem of the present principles;

FIG. 7 a depicts the logical workflow of the workplace infrastructureaccording to an implementation of the present principles; and

FIG. 7 b depicts the physical workflow of the workplace infrastructureaccording to an implementation of the present principles.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

According to one aspect, a goal of the Content management technique ofthe present principles is to provide a distributive and collaborativeenvironment for media production and/or distribution. Televisionbroadcasting began some 60 years ago. The technologies associated withbroadcasting and producing television shows have changed dramaticallyover the years, but certain fundamental processes have not evolveddramatically.

Despite the evolution of transferring Content, first via film, then byvideotape, and finally now by transferring files of digitized video overa network, the overall workflows of these processes have did notsignificantly changed. The challenge in today's broadcasting environmentis to provide an enterprise-level Media Asset Management solution withworkflow management capability. This approach, which is based on atask-oriented user interface with a workplace/work package concept, willdramatically improve broadcast operations and media production and postproduction.

The goal of the Asset management technique of the present principles isto manage and/or control distributed, parallel and collaborativeproduction and/or distribution systems to ensure the availability ofmedia for delivery. Such management techniques serve to solve a complexcombination of constraints among: users; Content; processes; time; andnetworks that cannot not be resolved by an algorithmic system or an n-pcomplex task scheduling generator.

The Content management technique of the present principles serves tomanage Content and Assets around a solution focused on operationworkflow with:

-   -   A Dynamic user interface task base that enables each user to        have the description of its respective task and the resource        required to execute that task. The dynamic user task interface        relies on a unique concept of dynamic Work Pages managed by a        workflow engine;    -   A framework that helps define, manage and monitor operations to        manage the infrastructure;    -   An advanced Media Asset management structure that gives a        sufficient level of abstraction to manage and consolidate        searches in a complex media creation environment;    -   A mechanism that allows interfacing with third party and/or        legacy systems;    -   A Centralized monitoring solution to manage and consolidate        alarms and logs of the technical and operational infrastructure;        and    -   Collaborative tool(s) that will leverage other elements such as,        for example, a chat engine as a legacy solution like an Intercom        in a broadcast environment with a voice over IP intercom at the        desktop.

Definition of Assets (Media)—As a very basic definition, an Assetcomprises “something of worth”. In the broadcast industry a definitionhas been established by the Society of Motion Picture and TelevisionEngineers (SMPTE) standards body which defines an Asset as theaggregation of Content and Rights. Within this framework, the Content isdefined as the aggregation of Essence and Metadata.

An Asset normally will be created in a business management system, e.g.a Traffic System, while creating a unique identification (ID), e.g., anAsset ID, which identifies the Asset. Because of the difficultabstraction of this definition, the term “Asset” is commonly used toname the dataset used to manage the Asset in a computer system. Thisdataset is uniquely identified using the Asset ID. Different systemsexist in a broadcast facility at different levels. Of course, each ofthese systems could require its own structure and dataset to administerthe Asset. Although many of Asset Administration datasets could exist inparallel, all would describe the same identical Asset.

EXAMPLES

Deleting an Asset administration dataset in a downstream system does notdelete the Asset itself. The act of deletion only deletes the Assetrepresentation in this system. Moving an Essence that belongs to anAsset from one location to another location does not move the Asseteither.

A media component can constitute an “Asset”, and serves to regroupEssences named “Contents”. The Media Management system can manageseveral levels of abstraction for individual pieces media which could berepresented in the process with the model shown in FIGS. 1 a and 1 bwhich illustrate a model 10 having many groups of Assets 12 each withits corresponding metadata 14. Each group of Assets 12 can includeothers groups of Assets 16 with their own corresponding metadata 18.Within each group of Assets 16, there exists or more Assets 20 withcorresponding metadata 22. Each Asset has corresponding Content(Essence) 24 and metadata 26. This structure of the media managementsystem provides a higher level of abstraction with the capability tohandle a complex combination of Content and metadata as a single logicalentity. Using such a representation enables basic computing and humanoperations as well as complex system processing and business operationsto occur on the media entities.

Workplaces and Workplaces Categories

The term “Workplaces” defines specific positions in a logical workflowthat are associated with one or more users' roles that contribute to theworkflow by performing specific tasks. The workplace can refer to eithera human operator or an automated actor. Workplaces are organized bycategories. A workplace can be reached by many Work Packages (seedefinition below). FIG. 2 depicts an example of workplace categories andcorresponding workplaces according to an implementation of the presentprinciples. Workplace Category 1 (30) has N workplaces shown asWorkplace 1-1 (32), Workplace 1-2 (34) and Workplace 1-N (36), whileWorkplace Category N (38) includes Workplace 1-N (40), Workplace 2-N(42) and Workplace N-N (44).

As shown in FIG. 3, a Workplace offers users a specific viewpoint in theworkflow. As shown, a user 1 can have access to Workplace I-J (50) andWorkplace K-L (54), each having their respective views 52 and 54 of theworkflow.

A Workplace can also refer to a non human actor (e.g., a machine) thatcan automatically execute one or more pre defined task(s). The Workplacecategories do not require either a specific order or sequences to linkthem together. Workplaces in Workplace categories do not require anyrelationship together. The model of FIG. 3 provides a level ofabstraction to regroup viewpoints in a workflow. The final operationalviewpoint are the Workplaces (See for Example, FIG. 2), where tasks willbe exposed to the users with their respective views. As mentioned above,this Workplace representation provides the logical infrastructure of theworkflow.

The Content management technique of the present principles providesmeans to describe, for a workplace, a set of views that provideinformation on the media and the tool(s) that operate on such media.According to their respective role in the system, the users have accessto a set of workplaces and each workplace can expose the users adifferent a set of views. Those operational views will combine differentuser tools and commands that can vary according to the rank of operator(user or super-user) which will affect the media.

User & Task Oriented Mechanism

FIG. 4 illustrates a method 100 for user operation of a task orientedsystem. Upon logging into the system, the user can access workplaces byinitially selecting a category (step 102). The user then selects then aworkplace (step 104) from the selected category through thecategorization of task element 106. According, the system automaticallyprovides:

1—The tasks assigned to the a specific operator/user, labelled as MyTask (step 108);

2—All the tasks located at the workplace, labelled as All Task (step110); and

3—The tasks which are late, thus requiring assignment as urgent, beinglabelled in FIG. 4 as Late (step 112).

From such information provided by the system, each connected user knowswhat is occurring in real-time at the workplace and also what taskremain, as well as what tasks other users are performing.

The user then has its task 114 and corresponding views 116. The userthen operates and locks its task (step 118). To perform a task, the usershould lock it in order to avoid two operators from inadvertentlyattempting to perform the same task. The locking action also serves totrack the progress of the task. In addition, the locking of a taskenables recording of the time the operator took to perform their task bymonitoring the time between the lock and the submission relating to taskcompletion. Once locked, the target Asset is updated (step 120), and thesteps of trimming, editing and cataloging are performed. At this stage,the command relating to this task can be launched (step 124), or thecommand can be saved (step 122) for later execution. When the commandhas been launched, the element 128 forwards a command to unlock the task(step 126) which makes the task now available to for future action.

Context of an Application

FIG. 5 depicts a typical workflow example which validates applicabilityof the concepts described above. (Note: those of ordinary skill in theart will recognize that a number of short cuts have been taken tosimplify the discussion.) In reality, the system can possess muchgreater complexity and in some instances, such complexity might requirethe creation of low resolution Content for use in the system.

Operational Sub workflow 1 Ingest

Referring to FIG. 5, assume that a business department 502 intends tobroadcast a movie (e.g., the Matrix). The business department 502creates a placeholder Asset “Matrix” in the traffic database with “toIngest” (e.g., to receive Content) as the status along with a targetduration.

The system receives from the traffic a notification 504 to create a workpackage (i.e., task 506) named “Matrix to ingest” with an expectedduration. The work package moves forward to the next workplace 507.

The operation department (workplace 507) adds description and createsthe source Asset (e.g., “Matrix original”) and the target Asset (Matrixmaster) 508.

The system sends a notification (step 509) to the ingest application 511to record the “Matrix original” Content. The work package moves forwardto the next workplace 510. The ingest application 511 causes therecording of the Content in high resolution (step 522).

The ingest operator (workplace 510) ingests the Content “Matrixoriginal.” When ingest occurs, the system links the source Asset withthe source Content “Matrix original” (step 512). The work package movesforward to the next workplace 513.

The Quality Control (QC) operator (workplace 513) validates the Content.(If the Content cannot be validated, the Content returns to theworkplace associated with Content ingest). The system creates alow-resolution copy 524 (Matrix Source) of the source Content using atranscoder 522 (step 514) and links it to the source Asset. The workpackage moves forward to the next workplace 515.

The trim operator (workplace) 515, using the low-resolution sourceContent 524, adjusts the Content to fit the target duration and createsa new Content 516 associated with the target Asset via a conform commandprovided by a conformance engine 526. The Content matches the Asset name(Matrix master). The system creates a low resolution version of “MatrixMaster”, which is a low resolution version of the new version of theContent after modification (i.e., trimming). The work package movesforward to the next workplace 517.

At workplace 517, the Asset undergoes review for approval as lowresolution Content. If the Asset is rejected, the Asset returns to thetrim operator 515.

The system then performs the following activities: (a) deleting thesource Asset with low and high-resolution Content, archives the targetContent at workplace 528, (b) deleting the low resolution target, (c)moving the Asset to the archive workplace, and (d) deleting the workpackage after sending a notification (step 519) to the traffic that the“Matrix Master” is ready for playout (step 520).

Operational workflow 2 Playout

In the example depicted in FIG. 6, assume the traffic operation 502plans playout of the movie “Matrix” next Monday. To that end, the systemPLM module 602 tracks the scheduling of the movie “Matrix” andautomatically sends a command 603 to a Media frame transfer manager torestore the Content “Matrix master” to the staging server (step 604)

The system detects the Content in the staging server and creates a newwork package 606 (i.e., task) “Matrix play” that will support paralleltask with also the creation of a teaser. The system then performs thefollowing activities: (a) moving the created Work Package 606 to“playout staging” workplace 607, and (b) creating a secondary workpackage or task (step 608) “Matrix promo” with an expected completion in2 days (usually look ahead for scheduling) and moves it to the nextworkplace 607 (playout staging).

The promo editor 610 creates a teaser and creates an Edit Decision List(EDL) named

“Matrix promo.” The system creates a new Asset “matrix teaser” (step612) and moves the work package to the next workplace 614 (promoapprove).

When the teaser is approved, the system conforms the new Contentaccording to the EDL (step 616), and sends a notification 617 to the MCRsupervisor to inform that teaser (e.g., the Matrix) is available. Whenthe operator MCR supervisor acknowledges the message (step 619), theAsset is moved to the staging area, the secondary sub workflow 608 iscompleted by deleting the task 622, and the main task Playout workflowcontinues. After the automation assigns or allocates the movie and theteaser to a channel (step 626), the PLM module 602 moves the Content tothe dedicated playout server (step 628). The work packages are moved toplayout. An alarm will be sent if the work packages are not available.That is, an alarm will be sent if the file has been deleted or somethingwent wrong during the process (e.g., the work package was rejected dueto quality issues). The automation station plays the Content (step 630),and the PLM module catches the “As Run Log” report from the automation(step 632) and deletes the Contents (step 634). The system tracks thedeletion of Contents (step 624) and deletes the Assets, the archive andthe task after sending a notification to traffic to playout the movie.

FIGS. 7 a and 7 b show the logical workflow and physical workflow,respectively of the operational management system of the presentprinciples. The logical workflow depicted in FIG. 7 a illustrates theIngest sub-workflow which comprises the steps of Ingest (step 702),Prepare (step 704) and Archive (step 706). The Ingest step 702 generallyincludes a supervisor 710 to record (step 712) and manage the qualitycontrol (step 714) of the requested task (e.g., as explained withreference to FIGS. 5 and 6, in the present example, the task is theplayout of a movie. (Those of skill in the art will recognize that thetasks can change without departing from the scope of the presentprinciples). During the Prepare step 704, the task is edited (step 716)and approved (step 718). Once approved, the task is archived (step 720)and then restored (step 722 for the playout (step 708). The Playout step708 includes the staging (step 724) and possibly a promo sub workflow(step 726). If there no promo step 726 occurs, the task is played out(step 732), and the system is then purged from this task (step 743).

FIG. 7 b depicts the physical workflow corresponding to the logicalworkflow. As shown in FIG. 7 b, during ingest (step 702), a highresolution version 750 of the requested Content created and run througha conformance engine 752 to confirm that the Content conforms to adesired format. The Content is also run through a transcoder 754 tocreate a low resolution version of the high resolution format (step756). Once created, the high resolution version is archived (step 758)and is then sent to the playout staging (step 760). At this point, theplayout staging passes the Content to the conformance engine 762 which Wcreates a high-resolution clip according to the editing performed duringstep 16, and then passes the Content to one or more distributionchannels for playout (e.g., playout 1 (step 764) and playout 2 (step766).

The implementations described herein may be implemented in, for example,a method or process, an apparatus, or a software program. Even if onlydiscussed in the context of a single form of implementation (forexample, discussed only as a method), the implementation of featuresdiscussed may also be implemented in other forms (for example, anapparatus or program). An apparatus may be implemented in, for example,appropriate hardware, software, and firmware. The methods may beimplemented in, for example, an apparatus such as, for example, aprocessor, which refers to processing devices in general, including, forexample, a computer, a microprocessor, an integrated circuit, or aprogrammable logic device.

Additionally, the methods may be implemented by instructions beingperformed by a processor, and such instructions may be stored on aprocessor-readable medium such as, for example, an integrated circuit, asoftware carrier or other storage device such as, for example, a harddisk, a compact diskette, a random access memory (“RAM”), or a read-onlymemory (“ROM”). The instructions may form an application programtangibly embodied on a processor-readable medium. As should be clear, aprocessor may include a processor-readable medium having, for example,instructions for carrying out a process.

As should be evident to one of skill in the art, implementations mayalso produce a signal formatted to carry information that may be, forexample, stored or transmitted. The information may include, forexample, instructions for performing a method, or data produced by oneof the described implementations. Such a signal may be formatted, forexample, as an electromagnetic wave (for example, using a radiofrequency portion of spectrum) or as a baseband signal. The formattingmay include, for example, encoding a data stream, packetizing theencoded stream, and modulating a carrier with the packetized stream. Theinformation that the signal carries may be, for example, analog ordigital information. The signal may be transmitted over a variety ofdifferent wired or wireless links, as is known.

A number of implementations have been described. Nevertheless, it willbe understood that various modifications may be made. For example,elements of different implementations may be combined, supplemented,modified, or removed to produce other implementations. Additionally, oneof ordinary skill will understand that other structures and processesmay be substituted for those disclosed and the resulting implementationswill perform at least substantially the same function(s), in at leastsubstantially the same way(s), to achieve at least substantially thesame result(s) as the implementations disclosed. Accordingly, these andother implementations are within the scope of the following claims.

1. A method comprising the steps of: selecting a workplace within aworkplace category; providing at least one task corresponding to theselected workplace; updating an asset in response to the provided task;and launching a command related to the task.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein said providing comprises: (a) identifying to an individualoperator: (1) at least one task) assigned to said operator forperformance; (2) at least one task assigned to other operators which canalso be performed by said individual operator; and (3) any urgent taskthat can be performed by said individual operator; (b) updating a taskstatus following completion of the least one task by an operator; and(c) repeating steps (a) and (b) until all tasks are completed for theselected workplace.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting of aworkplace comprises selecting one workplace among more than onecontained in the workplace category.
 4. The method of claim 2, furthercomprising preventing access to the tasks assigned to said operator byother operators.
 5. The method of claim 2, wherein said identifying canbe performed for a predetermined select group of operators to executethe task or tasks at a specific workplace.
 6. The method of claim 1,further comprising locking the user selected task to associate the samewith an identified individual operator.
 7. The method of claim 6,wherein said locking enables tracking of the user's time in performingthe selected task.
 8. A method for managing media production anddistribution, the method comprising the steps of: receiving media to beplayed out; preparing the media to be played out; archiving the mediaafter the preparing has been completed; and playing out the media. 9.The method of claim 8, wherein receiving step further comprises:recording the media; and conducting quality control on the recordedmedia.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the preparing step furthercomprises: editing the media; creating a high resolution version of theedited media; running the high resolution media task through aconformance engine; and creating a low resolution version of the mediafrom the high resolution version of the media.
 11. The method of claim10, wherein the playing out of the media comprises: sending the archivedhigh resolution version of the media to a staging facility running themedia through a conformance engine to confirm proper format and create afinal high resolution clip according to the editing; and sending thefinal high resolution clip to at least one distribution channel forplayout.
 12. The method of claim 10, wherein the playing out of themedia further comprises: sending the archived high resolution version ofthe media to a staging facility; creating a promotional clip of highresolution version sent to the staging facility, wherein the creatingincludes editing and approving the promotional clip; and forwarding thepromo to one or more distribution channels for playout.
 13. A computerprogram product comprising a computer useable medium having computerreadable program code embodied thereon for use in media production anddistribution environment, the computer program product comprising:program code for selecting a workplace within a workplace category;program code for providing at least one task corresponding to theselected workplace; program code for updating a target Asset in responseto a user selected task; and program code for launching a commandrelated to the selected task.
 14. The computer program product ofaccording to claim 13, wherein said program code for providing at leastone task corresponding to the selected workplace further comprises: (a)program code for identifying to an individual operator: (1) task(s)assigned to said operator for performance; (2) tasks assigned to otheroperators which can also be performed by said individual operator; and(3) urgent task(s) that can be performed by said individual operator;(b) program code for updating a task status following completion of atask by an operator; and (c) program code for repeating steps (a) and(b) until all tasks are completed for the selected workplace.
 15. Asystem for managing media production and distribution, the systemcomprising: means for receiving a media to be played out; means forpreparing the media to be played out; means for archiving the mediaafter the preparing has been completed; and means for playing out themedia.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein ingesting means comprises:means for recording the media; and means for conducting quality controlon the recorded media.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the preparingmeans comprises: means for editing the media when needed; means forcreating a high resolution version of the edited media; means forrunning the high resolution media through a conformance engine; andmeans for creating a low resolution version of the media from the highresolution version of the media.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein themeans for playing out of the media task comprises: means for sending thearchived high resolution version of the media to a staging facilitymeans for running the media through a conformance engine to confirmproper format and create a final high resolution clip according to theediting; and means for sending the final high resolution clip to atleast one distribution channel for playout.
 19. The method of claim 17,wherein the playing out of the media further comprises: means forsending the archived high resolution version of the media to a stagingfacility; means for creating a promotional clip of high resolutionversion sent to the staging facility, wherein the creating includesediting and approving the promotional clip; and means for forwarding thepromo to at least one distribution channel for playout.